Rotary raffle raises funds to build Community Center

“We have just 1,000 tickets available, so your chances to win are good,” said club President Chuck Henschel. Each ticket costs $25, and the winner will receive a trip for two to a five-night stay at the Vista Ballena Hotel in Costa Rica, plus $1,500 toward airfare and transportation.

The club hopes to raise $25,000 to help build a community center with its Najijali Project partner, Grace Resources for Community Action (GRECA), to support the program's sustainability and make vital resources available to the small rural community of Sikusi. The team began working together in 2020 and successfully launched a Rotary Global Grant in 2022 that supported the first two cohorts of beneficiaries. The project brings young mothers back into a vocational education program with wraparound services, including counseling, domestic science, and business training, to help them become financially independent.

“This has been a significant community project on both sides of the world,” Henschel said. “For this new effort, we owe a big thank you to Suzanne Hart of Hood River, who donated the five-night stay to her hotel in Costa Rica. She learned about the project through her Gorge connections, was very passionate about the mission, and decided to get involved as we were exploring fundraising ideas.”

Tickets are available for purchase from any member of the White Salmon-Bingen Rotary Club and will be sold at club activities such as the Annual Community Cleanup, held April 24 and 25 in Bingen, and during regular club meetings.

Locally, tickets can also be purchased from the following club members during their regular business hours: in White Salmon, from Tammara Tippel at the Mt. Adams Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center, Maira Schuster at First Security Bank, Matt Stoneberg at Riverview Bank; and in Bingen, from Karalee Holtmann at First Interstate Bank.

Henschel explained that Rotary Clubs have a mission to do good in the world. This long-standing project is helping the Kenyan nonprofit secure a permanent location to administer the program and conduct other community outreach, helping the rural population achieve a higher standard of living. Many homes in the area are built of mud, sticks, and aluminum and lack electricity or water, so people must walk long distances to meet their basic needs.

The Global Grant was completed in January 2025 following the graduation of the first two cohorts of beneficiaries. Now, GRECA continues to work with the Harambee Centre, a U.S.-based 501(c)(3), and the White Salmon-Bingen Rotary Club Foundation to support the third cohort as the beneficiaries complete their second year of studies and work toward graduation this November.

The new community center will include dedicated production centers for Tailoring and Hairdressing and Beauty students to practice their skills, learn new techniques, and sell their products and services. A large water tank will be constructed to provide potable water to the center and to community members for a nominal fee set by the government. The group would also like to install a solar array to power the center and provide charging stations for local residents to charge their small electronic devices.

GRECA has been working from small donated spaces over the past five years. The new center would provide the organization with a permanent office, meeting space, counseling rooms, and a staging area for volunteers during visits. A caretaker’s room and a security wall would also be installed, and the center would be available for groups to rent to hold meetings, workshops, and trainings. Henschel said all of these things will help GRECA to become self-sufficient and less reliant on aid to administer its programs.

White Salmon-Bingen Rotary Club meetings are free and open to community members on the first four Tuesdays of each month from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. at the Mt. View Grange #98, 1085 N. Main Avenue, White Salmon, WA 98672. Guests can bring their own lunch or, for $20, enjoy catering featuring a variety of delicious foods from Beneventi’s Pizza. Meetings include guest speakers on a wide range of topics.

On fifth Tuesdays, the club arranges evening get-togethers at various locations. On March 31, beginning at 5:00 p.m., members will be found at Pixan, a local White Salmon restaurant, and all are welcome to walk in and join the conversation. Members will also have raffle tickets available at this event for anyone wanting to secure their chance at a trip to Costa Rica.